Conservative therapy for lipedema involves manual lymphatic drainage, but this modality is not always effective, depending upon on the severity and history of the disease. — In view of the reports on the positive effect of vibrotherapy in reducing edema, scientists from RECON (Research and Consulting; Germany) decided to investigate the effect of MLD treatment combined with vibrotherapy on lipedema and quality of life compared to the effects of MLD alone.
After MLD treatment, there was only a slight reduction in lipoedema (changes ranged from 0.2 to 0.6 cm), while after combined treatment (MLD + vibration), lipoedema was significantly reduced (changes ranged from 0.6 to 2.6 cm).
The magnitude of the change in thigh lipoedema due to vibration indicated a 99% advantage of the combination therapy compared to the MLD treatment alone.
Patients receiving combination therapy reported a higher health-related quality of life score (23% improvement) than patients receiving MLD alone (8% improvement).
Schneider, R. (2020). Low-frequency vibrotherapy considerably improves the effectiveness of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) in patients with lipedema: A two-armed, randomized, controlled pragmatic trial. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice.
Wibroterapia. (2021). Vibrotherapy significantly improves the effectiveness of manual lymphatic drainage in women with lipedema.
Research
Abercromby, A. , Amonette, W., Layne, C., McFarlin, B., et al. (2007). Variation in neuromuscular responses during acute whole-body vibration exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
Johnson, P. K., Feland, J. B., Johnson, A. W., Mack, G. W., & Mitchell, U. H. (2014). Effect of whole body vibration on skin blood flow and nitric oxide production. Journal of diabetes science and technology, 8(4), 889–894. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932296814536289
Mitchell U, Johnson P. Vibration and skin blood flow changes in subjects with restless legs syndrome. Research and Reviews in Parkinsonism. 2014;4:9-16
https://doi.org/10.2147/JPRLS.S58556
Ostasevicius, V., Jurenas, V., Venslauskas, M., Kizauskiene, L. (2025). Vibrational Activation of Blood Flow. In: Noninvasive Therapeutic Technologies. Synthesis Lectures on Biomedical Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-79025-6_3
Schneider, R. (2018). Low-frequency vibrotherapy considerably improves the effectiveness of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) in patients with lipedema: A two-armed, randomized, controlled pragmatic trial. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 36(1), 63–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2018.1479474
Additional Information
Vibratory Urticaria | DermNet NZ
Vibratory Urticaria | Medline Plus